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Editorial: Redevelopment looks like a major success

Redevelopment can be a very tricky proposition. The city’s role in it can be even trickier.

Based on what we saw this week, though, it looks like the redevelopment of the old Hudson Manufacturing Co. building in downtown Hastings will be a huge step forward.

There will be 60 apartments in the massive structure. A restaurant, an event and banquet space and retail space. More than all that, though, developers will be able to convert what had become an eyesore into an asset.

We must say: we’re encouraged by what we’ve seen in terms of the plans. When the city’s redevelopment authority purchased the building from Hudson a few years ago, we wrote an editorial essentially saying that that whole structure should be flattened and something new should be erected.

It sure looks like we were wrong to come to that conclusion. The developers of the project have great plans for some of those massive spaces inside the building. We could be close to seeing the building as something truly unique.

One final hurdle remains to be cleared, obviously, as the city council has yet to give the project its stamp of approval. We don’t see that being a problem, though.

It’s expected they’ll vote on the issue on Nov. 16 and then turn the property over to the developers, who are eager to get to work. We can’t wait for work to begin and are eager to see the final result.